News & Updates — Celebrate Icons

You know those people who's music everyone knows but they've never heard of it's creator? Meet Raymond Scott, one of the wackiest composers out there. He was a dada-inspired jazz bandleader, an instrument-builder, a pioneer in electronics and the composer of the Looney Tunes (arranged by Carl Stalling) and Ren & Stimpy music. Born Harry Warnow in Brooklyn to a family of Russian Jews, he started working for his brother in the CBS Radio house band as a pianist, changing his name to "Raymond Scott" (how to avoid claims of nepotism) before forming his spin-off Quintette in 1936. (It was...

With a documentary due out soon on this tragic Puerto Rican salsa sonero and songwriter, we should honor him on his date of birth. Chamaco Ramirez is most famous for singing with Tommy Olivencia, but his Alive & Kicking album is a (formerly) lost classic. From Santurce, Puerto Rico, he joined the Olivencia band as a teenager, sharing lead vocals with Paquito Guzmán. He wrote "Plante Bandera" (which later became a reggaeton hit), "Trucutu" (covered by Marc Anthony) and "Evelio Y La Rumba". He also sang with Kako and the Alegre All-Stars, among others, before his '79 classic...which turned out...

Happy birthday to the jump-blues icon Roy Brown, one of the foundational artists of rock & roll and the composer of the massive 1948 hit "Good Rocking Tonight", which was successful for both Brown and Wynonie Harris that same year. From New Orleans, he went to Los Angeles in the '40s to be a pro boxer and work in the sugarcane fields. He moved to Texas in '46, where he wrote and started performing "Good Rocking Tonight". "Hard Luck Blues" was another big one for him in 1950. After defeating King Records in court in 1952 for unpaid royalties, the...

Happy birthday to Elvin Jones! The amazing polyrhythmic "heavy bop" drummer from Detroit was already a seasoned veteran of many years before he ever hooked up with John Coltrane. His intense drumming style largely changed the swing dynamic in jazz to a more African-inspired one, subsequently influencing a million drummers along the way, including rock legends Ginger Baker (whom he has played with) and Mitch Mitchell (Jimi: 'my Elvin Jones"). He came from Detroit, son of an auto worker and youngest brother to well-known pianist Hank and trumpeter Thad Jones (both of whom he'd collaborate with professionally). He played in...

Happy birthday to one of the greatest soul men to ever live, the irreplaceable Otis Redding!